Pete Seeger Performs In New York's Central Park Celebrating Israel's 50th Birthday Editorial Photo

Pete Seeger Performs in Manhattan's Central Park on June 7, 1998. Legendary folk singer and troubadour Pete Seeger leads the singing of Tzena, Tzena, Tzena, a song originated by Israeli kibbutzniks, at a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel at the East Meadow of Manhattan s Central Park on June 7, 1998. Seeger was a composer, arranger, lyricist, and accomplished musician strumming his distinctive 5-stringed banjo emblazoned with the words, this machine surrounds hate and forces surrender. A champion of the working man, and the oppressed, his songs were about social protest, patriotism, and simple tenderness. Among the songs he is associated with are, Goodnight Irene,If I Had a Hammer, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, and Waist Deep in the Big Muddy.A key member of the popular group The Weavers, Seeger was blacklisted for 10 years for failure to co-operate with the US House Un-American Activities Sub-Committee which accused him of being a member of the Communist Party in his youth. Years later, fully rehabilitated and beloved, he was given the Kennedy Center Honors. Seeger died in New York City on January 27, 2014 at the age of 94.